In an increasingly high-tech world where smartphones are as ubiquitous in Mongolia as they are in Manhattan and the growth in the number of electric vehicles on the road is expected to explode, scientists and engineers are trying to solve a big problem: How to recycle the batteries that make all of those things work.
The US Department of Energy recently launched its first lithium-ion recycling hub, called the ReCell Center, and a UC San Diego professor will add his expertise in the campaign to help the United States grow a competitive recycling industry and reduce the country's reliance on foreign sources of battery materials.